Now for the whinge/sob story. It is now 6 months and a week ( yes really!) since the fire in our house and we still haven't had the insurance money. We can't go away on holiday together as the house is not secure and the tarpaulin leaks badly. We could leave Wonder Boy ( aka Harri ) in charge as he's back from Uni but I'm not sure if he would cope if say the ceiling fell down. This is a distinct possibility. Two of our ceilings are sagging badly and all it will take is a little more rain and they will go. Thank goodness for our current glorious weather! It is beginning to get me down. I feel like I'm living in limbo land, in fact like living in a squat ( which yes I did do, eons ago in my youth).
Now for the outright boasting. My clever daughter won 'Young Medical Journalist of the year' this week at a ceremony in London ( in another category Max Pemberton who writes for The Telegraph won ). Not only that but she got £750.00 as prize money. I'm so proud of her.
So on to sewing matters. Sewing does matter to me, it is what is keeping me sane at the moment ( along with gardening). However, because of limited space the only sewing I can do is small, like blocks.
I tried to quilt Siblings together Mark 2 which was made from extra blocks from FQR Quilt Bee, but it just wasn't happening. So I have abandoned it for now rather than spoil it and I'll have to give it to Siblings together next year.
I have made loads of Bee blocks. Despite having some serious reservations about Bees ( that will be another post) I have gone and joined a few more. FQR Quilt Bee ( formerly FQR Kinky Bee) is going to continue which is great. I have also joined the Siblings together Bee lead by the wonderful Lynne of Lily's Quilts and have been doing Together at do.good stitches for a few months. My star block bee is coming to an end and I'm about half way through Simply Solids Bee.
Swoon Block for Stacey in Star Block Quilting Bee
Wavy curves for Alice in Simply Solids Bee
Star block for Lynne in Siblings together Bee.
Wonky squares for Jo in Siblings together.
Antique tile for Rachael in Together @ do.good stitches
I have also started 2 new quilts ( I must be mad as I have so many works in progress). Madlen is moving into a new house and actually asked me to make her a bright quilt. So, I started another scrappy trip around the world in bright colours.
But I've also been eyeing up all those lovely Marcelle medallion quilts ( I particularly like Hadley's)
I haven't got the magazine and I'm too mean to buy the book when I only want to make one quilt out of it , so I thought I would just make it up. I'm also not too keen on the medallion that Marcelle uses so I chose another block from here. This was only 12 inches square so I hand designed an outer border which I have placed ( not sewn yet ) on top. It has not worked at all well and it's going to be back to the drawing board. I can't stand the less than perfect outer curves despite the fact that I have a rather nifty curved sewing foot that I bought at FoQ last year.
I have also made my sample swaps for FQ Retreat next week, lavender sachets and a bar of my handmade natural soap
I used this wonderful smelling French lavender for the sachets. It is a rather dry dusty colour but retains it's smell for ages.
I'm very excited about the retreat, it was so much fun last year. Mr Hare is going to come with me( not to the actual retreat!) but to help Madlen move into her new house. I've still got to get a few things together for the retreat but I'll do those today and in the evenings next week.
